You are at a party and one of your classmates hands you their Juul. Do you reject the e-cigarette and feel like an outsider, or do you give into the emerging trend of vaping? Unfortunately, the marketing teams of mainstream vaping companies deliberately select flashy flavors as a manipulative ploy. The reason that e-cigarettes have recently become so relevant with teenagers is because different companies, such as Juul or Phix, have begun to target a younger audience with their products.

High schoolers do not make as much money as adults, who make up the majority of  cigarette smokers. Companies price e-cigarettes significantly lower than the routinely purchased, regular cigarettes, leading to curious  teenagers purchasing the cheapest option. Many of these products are also easily disguised and are a convenient size, so it is difficult to be caught sneaking e-cigarettes around adults. In addition, by producing nicotine pods in flavors such as vanilla or mango, smoking from these devices is a more appealing alternative for teenagers than regular cigarettes. E-cigarettes have effectively become the focus of the younger generations, deviating from their original purpose as a safer substitute for adult cigarette users.

A solution to the rampant vaping by many teenagers is to educate them about the negative effects. Nurses at Princeton Day School claim that “vaping nicotine is regarded as a potential lethal poison. Exposure to toxic levels of nicotine, which is addictive and has many side effects, including gum disease and potential harm to the immune system, endangers users of juuls.” Vaping is a relatively new craze, so scientists do not yet fully know its long-term health consequences. Just as you would with food, you would want to know what you are putting into your body and the effects of vaping. For that reason, next time you are offered an e-cigarette, you should think twice about the dangerous path you may be embarking upon.